The invention relates to an inhalant medicator suitable to prescribe granular medicines toward within lungs of a patient by way of breathing action of the patient.
Generally, there are various medications of prescribing granular medicines toward within lungs of an asthmatic patient. Of these, an inhalant medicator used for an inhalation treatment where encapsulated granular medicines are inhaled, has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 7-313599 and 10-216204.
The inhalant medicator as disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Provisional Publications is generally comprised of a medicator body equipped at one axial end with a granular medicine accommodation chamber and at the other axial end with an inhalant port used for inhalation of granular medicines, and air passageways provided to supply granular medicines in the granular medicine accommodation chamber of the medicator body toward a side of the inhalant port, and also constructed in such a manner as to charge granular medicines in the granular medicine accommodation chamber by means of a capsule or the like.
In such inhalant medicators, when prescribing granular medicines via the inhalant port into the lungs of a patient, a capsule is, first, installed in a granular medicine accommodation chamber. Then, through holes are pricked in the capsule by means of a boring tool. Under this condition, when the patient draws his or her breath while taking the inhalant port in his or her mouse, air flow occurs owing to air sucked in the atmosphere side and flowing through the air passageways, and then the air flow carries the granular medicines in the granular medicine accommodation chamber within toward the inhalant port. In this manner, the granular medicines, flowing out of the capsule, could be inhaled into the lungs of the patient.
As discussed above, in the conventional inhalant medicators, granular medicines stored in a granular medicine accommodation chamber, are diffused or agitated by way of fluid flow of air flowing via the air passageways into the granular medicine accommodation chamber. However, during medication with a granular medicine having a strong condensation property (bad dispersion), or a powdered medicine having a greatly increased tendency to be charged with static electricity, or the like, there is a problem of unstable dispersion of the granular or powdered medicine, that is, a possibility of flowing out a lump of granular or powdered medicines within toward the inhalant port. As a result, there is a possibility that a lump of granular or powdered medicines tend to be dropped in the oral cavity or the mouse of the patient without sufficient dispersion during the inhalation, thus preventing medical prescription of a specified amount of granular or powdered medicines into the patient""s lungs. This lowers medical benefits of the granular or powdered medicines.
It is, therefore, in view of the previously-described disadvantages of the prior art, an object of the present invention to provide an inhalant medicator which is capable of prescribing a specified amount of granular or powdered medicines stored in a medicator body toward within lungs of a patient by widely dispersing and micronizing the granular or powdered medicines having a bad dispersion property.
In order to accomplish the aforementioned and other objects, according to the invention as claimed in claim 1, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body formed at one axial end with a granular medicine accommodation chamber and at the other axial end with an inhalant port for inhalation of granular medicines, an inflow air passageway communicating an atmosphere side with the granular medicine accommodation chamber for supplying air into the granular medicine accommodation chamber of the medicator body, an outflow air passageway through which the granular medicines of the granular medicine accommodation chamber are flown out, and a granular medicine diffusion chamber disposed between the inhalant port and the granular medicine accommodation chamber and formed with an inflow opening located at a side of the inhalant port and an outflow opening located at a side of the granular medicine accommodation chamber, a diffusion chamber inflow passage communicating the outflow air passageway with the inflow opening of the granular medicine diffusion chamber, and a diffusion chamber outflow passage communicating the outflow opening of the granular medicine diffusion chamber with the inhalant port.
In the inhalant medicator made according to the invention defined in claim 1, when a patient draws his or her breath via the inhalant port, air flows via the inflow air passageway into the granular medicine accommodation chamber, and thus the granular medicines in the granular medicine accommodation chamber can be carried into the granular medicine accommodation chamber through the outflow air passageway. At this time, the outflow air passageway is communicated with the inflow opening of the granular medicine diffusion chamber located at the side of the inhalant port, while the outflow opening of the granular medicine diffusion chamber located at the side of the granular medicine accommodation chamber is communicated with the inhalant port. With the previously-noted arrangement, there occurs counter-flow vortex flowing from the other axial end to the one axial end of the medicator body within the granular medicine diffusion chamber. Therefore, the granular medicines fed via the diffusion chamber inflow passage into the granular medicine diffusion chamber, are blended by way of the counter-flow vortex. As a result of this, even in case of a lump of granular medicines having a bad dispersion property, it is possible to finely break or smash and micronize the granular medicines.
According to the invention as claimed in claim 2, a bending angle of a connecting portion connecting the outflow air passageway and the diffusion chamber inflow passage, is configured to form an obtuse angle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the granular medicines fed through the diffusion chamber inflow passage and the diffusion chamber outflow passage from being accumulated in the connecting portion, thus effectively carrying the granular medicines.
In the inhalant medicator made according to the invention defined in claim 3 or 4, the diffusion chamber outflow passage is formed with a bent portion so that the bent portion strides over the diffusion chamber inflow passage. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the granular medicines flowing out of the granular medicine diffusion chamber from being accumulated in the bent portion, thus effectively carrying the granular medicines.
In the inhalant medicator made according to the invention defined in claim 5, 6 or 7, the diffusion chamber inflow passage is provided to open to an eccentric position with respect to a longitudinal axis of the granular medicine diffusion chamber so that the diffusion chamber inflow passage extends in a direction tangent to the granular medicine diffusion chamber as seen from a lateral cross-sectional view of the granular medicine diffusion chamber. Thus, it is possible to give a whirling flow action to air flowing from the outflow air passageway into the granular medicine diffusion chamber, thereby ensuring turbulent air flow created by adding the whirling air flow to counter-flow vortex within the granular medicine diffusion chamber. As a consequence, by virtue of the turbulent air flow, it is possible to promote micronization or atomization of the granular medicines.